Aug. 16, 1989: Man claiming FBI targeted him deported

Ronald J. Little, a 32-year-old New Zealand native who accused the FBI last year of targeting him as its prime suspect in the murders or disappearances of six young people, was deported last week for violating immigration laws.

As the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services began deportation proceedings in April 1988, Little launched a media blitz of sorts, proclaiming that the FBI was harassing him about the six cases.

He sent a six-page letter filled with accusations to dozens of newspapers, talk-show hosts, television news stations and a few senators, said William Bittner, INS officer in charge of southeastern Virginia. Little said last year that he was considered a suspect in the unsolved slayings of Laurie Ann Powell, 18, of Gloucester; Brian C. Pettinger, 25, of Newport News; Robin Edwards, 14, of Newport News; and David Knobling, 20, of Hampton.

The private investigator had job connections through his work with Powell, Pettinger and Edwards' mother.

Little also said he was a suspect in the disappearance of Richard K. Call, 20, of Gloucester, and Cassandra L. Hailey, 18, of Grafton.

Agents from the FBI and INS have continually denied that Little was a suspect in the cases.

When asked about Little's accusations last year, FBI special agent Jim Watters said, "I don't even want to justify that man's accusations with a statement. ... The FBI has interrogated hundreds of people in connection with these cases. The only one pointing a finger at Little is Little himself - and he seems to be doing it in a big way."

"If the guy was a suspect in any federal investigation, I don't care if it was drug smuggling or murder or what, someone would have filed an order to detain him in this country, not deport him," Bittner of the INS said Tuesday. "We never received such a request from any agency to detain him."

Bittner said the INS and several other agencies were investigating Little, but for unrelated charges.

Some of the charges included filing false statements to buy firearms and falsely registering with the INS when filing for entry visas and citizenship, Bittner said. By the conclusion of the investigation, the INS had filed 20 felony charges against him, Bittner said.

He was arrested in May on those charges and with overstaying his visa.

In a plea bargain agreement, Little pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of an alien falsely registering with the INS.

He agreed to waive his appeal against the deportation order handed down in July, Bittner said.

If Little had not withheld his criminal record in New Zealand from the American consul in 1985 when he applied for his original entry visa, he would never have been allowed into the United States, Bittner said.

"He's got a rap sheet in New Zealand as long as my arm," Bittner said.

Little's criminal record in New Zealand includes numerous counts of burglary, with several convictions, Bittner said.

"He claimed he was a repo man in New Zealand," Bittner said. "He'd go around and repossess cars that creditors said people owed money on. But most of the people were able to prove legal ownership, and in any country, that's grand theft-auto."

Little was also charged in his native country with possession of Indian hemp, a type of marijuana, Bittner said.

He was ordered to leave the United States on Wednesday. By Thursday he was in Hawaii, and he was back in New Zealand by Friday.